[jg2977]

“Good evening to you, wherever you may be — a lovely Friday night here at Dodger Stadium, the kind of evening that seems made for baseball. The sky, a deep watercolor blue fading into gold, the flags dancing lazily toward left field, and forty-eight thousand strong hoping their Dodgers could keep the season alive.
And tonight… they did just that.
Los Angeles wins it, three to one, over the Milwaukee Brewers. The series is now tied at two games apiece — and oh, what a night it was for a young left-hander by the name of Willie Chavez. Seven innings, four hits, no runs, ten strikeouts. Ninety-nine pitches of artistry — a little fastball here, a teasing slider there — and that quiet conviction that told you, from the very first pitch, he wasn’t going to let this one get away.”
[soft chuckle] “If conviction had a sound, it would be the pop of the catcher’s mitt when Chavez was on the mound tonight.”
“In the third inning, the Dodgers broke through. A leadoff double by D. Sanchez, a sharp liner into the left-field corner. Then C. Brierton followed with another double down the right-field line, and just like that, Los Angeles led two to nothing. That’s all Chavez would really need — but of course, these Brewers don’t go quietly. They scratched one across in the eighth on a pinch-hit single from Benny Pytel, who must have felt about ten feet tall rounding first base.”
“But then, as the night stretched toward its finish, came W. Cortez. Two outs in the bottom of the eighth, nobody on, the crowd restless… and Cortez turned on a fastball from Caudill and sent it sailing into the pavilion in left. No doubt about it. A long home run, his second of the postseason, and a punctuation mark that said, ‘We’re not done yet.’”
“The Brewers did get one back, but that was all. Jared Kovach, the closer, came in to finish the job. It wasn’t perfect — a few anxious glances to the bullpen, a few fans chewing on fingernails — but when the final out settled into Guzman’s glove in right field, this ballpark came alive.
The Dodgers had forced a Game 5.”
[brief pause — you can almost hear the crowd hum behind him]
“Baseball is funny that way. It teases you with endings, and then reminds you it has a few more chapters left to tell. And so, on Sunday, the Dodgers and Brewers will meet again in Milwaukee — one game, winner take all.
Willie Chavez, the hero tonight, walks off into the tunnel with a quiet smile, knowing he’s given his team one more breath. And perhaps, just perhaps, that’s all they needed.”
[softly, with warmth]
“From Dodger Stadium, on a perfect October night, the final score — Los Angeles 3, Milwaukee 1. This is Vin Scully — wishing you a very pleasant good evening, wherever you may be.”